There are many iconic events of the 80s that have gone down in history and many that we’re happy to forget about, but if there’s one thing that stands out the most, it’s the music. Whether you liked it or not, this synth-fuelled, gloriously glam decade played host to a multitude of new music styles, with developments in pop, dance and new wave, having emerged from the Punk era of the late 70s.

The 80s was the era of the superstar. Thanks to the launch of MTV in 1981 and the rise of music video culture, bands and artists were able to reach new heights of fame and stardom than ever before. This decade saw superstars such as Madonna and Whitney Houston’s careers begin, whilst Prince continued to have huge influence in the USA and UK. Meanwhile in the UK, The New Romantics genre erupted on the scene with bands like Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Culture Club and Adam & The Ants at the forefront.

So as a homage to this iconic era, Drumdrops has collated the ultimate in 80s style to bring you ‘Now That's What I call 80's Drums’. Featuring twenty classic 80s Pop drum tracks from the decade, ranging from 71BPM to 179BPM, this is the essential collection. Taking influences from some of the most memorable acts of the 80s, the album nods towards drum grooves synonymous with the styles of George Michael, De La Soul, Soul to Soul, Happy Mondays, Michael Jackson and Depeche Mode, to name a few.

The incredible drumming skills of Steve Sidelnyk (Madonna, Annie Lennox, Massive Attack), who began his career in the 80s, were used to record this album, taking advantage of his huge wealth of experience in this field, and engineering / producing the album was the hugely experienced Brit award winning Chris Potter (The Verve, U2). Recording took place at Miloco’s Sofa Sound studios in West London, owned by the legendary engineer and producer Hugh Padgham (The Police, Genesis, Phil Collins).

Based around an SSL E-Series console and complemented with a rack of vintage Neve 1081s and 1064s, they were able to record a truly authentic 80s Pop Drum sound in the studio. All of the drum tracks were recorded to 2" 24 track tape on a Studer A800 tape machine, while the live room added a perfectly controlled drum sound.

Now for the main event you’ve all been waiting for – drum roll please…the kit! A DW Collector Series was used for this recording; a classic kit, perfect for the job. On the snare drum front, a Ludwig Black Beauty, Ludwig Coliseum and a DW Craviotto were used. The kit was setup and delivered by the London Based Drumhire. The kit was fitted with Evans drum heads, and nineteen microphones were used to record the kit, ensuring the best sound possible – just have a listen for yourself! Recently we had also dropped in some classic 80s electronic drum samples into some of the tracks. Now you will find 808 samples, D-Drum Samples, Simmons and Linn Drums.

Heard all you need to hear? Then there’s only one thing left to do; get this album in your sample collection!

The Stems and mix packs which have all the separate drum mics, percussion, electronic drums and reverb as separate stems come as full length 24 bit WAVs and these also come with a tempo map. The Stem and Mix packs also include the locked to the beat song construction loops (but mixed versions).

Now That's What I call 80's Drums – the essential addition to your drum library.

De La Soul type groove with a twist and nice snare on the and of the bar and building changing the accents but maintaining the feel. Good groove to use underneath a heavier backbeat and claps maybe.Tambourine added too and getting busier with a more military feel at the end.

"3 x Mixes & 7 x Live Stems in 24 bit 44.1 kHz WAV files

Full Mix

Full Mix No Tambourine

Full Mix No Tambourine or Crust

Crust Stem

Kick Stem

Kick Sample Stem

Kit Stem

Snare Stem

Snare Sample Stem

Tambourine Stem

Beat Tempo Map

Locked Mix & Stem Loops - Loops created from the full length mixes for quick and easy song creating.

Groove Groove Groove with an early hip-hop inspired feel with pop sensibilities and changing bass drum pattern and fills galore! Again a drier tighter sound on the kit and an evolving bass drum and snare pattern with grace notes and gradually getting simpler and more direct.

"1 x Mix & 4 x Live Stems in 24 bit 44.1 kHz WAV files

Full Mix

Kick Stem

Kit Stem

Snare Stem

Room Stem

Beat Tempo Map

Locked Mix & Stem Loops - Loops created from the full length mixes for quick and easy song creating.

Iko IKo inspired beats with plenty of tom tom action and percussion thrown in to make it a tribal celebration of rhythm. Playing the rims of the toms on this one and tambourine action thrown in with the addition of an extra snare to give it that Creatures a la Budgie / Adam Ant type of feeling.

"2 x Mixes & 5 x Live Stems in 24 bit 44.1 kHz WAV files

Full Mix

Full Mix No Tambourine

Kick Stem

Kit Stem

Snare Stem

Room Stem

Tambourine Stem

Beat Tempo Map

Locked Mix & Stem Loops - Loops created from the full length mixes for quick and easy song creating.

Rock With You inspired beat with development in the bass drum department and starting off with an eights but moving to a sixteen feel hi-hats. Lots of accents and minimal fills make this a very usable track with a slightly more open sound on the drum-kit. Shaker also included.

"2 x Mixes & 7 x Live Stems in 24 bit 44.1 kHz WAV files

Full Mix

Full Mix No Percussion

Kick Stem

Kit Stem

Kick Sample Stem

Snare Sample Stem

Snare Stem

Room Stem

Shaker Stem

Beat Tempo Map

Locked Mix & Stem Loops - Loops created from the full length mixes for quick and easy song creating.

Early Happy Mondays type groove with some skippy snare and funky fills to keep things moving. Tambourine and a very small compressed sound on the overall mix with some ever progressing bass drum and snare action and moving to the ride cymbal for a section too.

"2 x Mixes & 8 x Live Stems in 24 bit 44.1 kHz WAV files

Full Mix

Full Mix No Tambourine

Crust Stem

Kick Stem

Kick Sample Stem

Kit Stem

Snare Stem

Snare Sample Stem

Room Stem

Tambourine Stem

Beat Tempo Map

Locked Mix & Stem Loops - Loops created from the full length mixes for quick and easy song creating.

Billie Jean sound and beat with a little grace note action to spice things up a bit progressing into a more of a Lets Dance type of feel. A more open sound with lots of open hat action and starting off with eighth note hats and more bass drum and snare accents

"2 x Mixes & 6 x Live Stems in 24 bit 44.1 kHz WAV files

Full Mix

Full Mix No Room

Kick Stem

Kick Linn Drum Stem

Kit Stem

Snare Stem

Snare Linn Drum Stem

Room Stem

Beat Tempo Map

Locked Mix & Stem Loops - Loops created from the full length mixes for quick and easy song creating.

Uptempo disco-classic with hints of A Certain Ratio and off-beat action on the hats and ride. Open sound and a deeper snare drum used in this track. Moving on to offbeat ride cymbal and then back to then a busier hat pattern.

"1 x Mix & 4 x Live Stems in 24 bit 44.1 kHz WAV files

Full Mix

Kick Stem

Kit Stem

Snare Stem

Room Stem

Beat Tempo Map

Locked Mix & Stem Loops - Loops created from the full length mixes for quick and easy song creating.

Developing very usable dance beat which breaks out into a nice four on the floor stomper a very dry small kit sound with a nice full bass drum sound and eighth note hats.Progressing into some nice tom builds and accents and lots of snare fills.

"1 x Mix & 3 x Live Stems in 24 bit 44.1 kHz WAV files

Full Mix

Kick Stem

Kit Stem

Snare Stem

Beat Tempo Map

Locked Mix & Stem Loops - Loops created from the full length mixes for quick and easy song creating.

Bring on the groove! Minimal beat that just keeps on moving with some subtle addition and building all the time. A deeper snare drum sound and sections that go into four on the floor Duran Duran-esque and very machine-gun like snare drum fills.

Depeche Mode type tom-tom shuffle groove that has plenty of movement and fills for those stadium moments. Ever evolving with lots of grace notes on the snare drum and some very tribal tom fills. A BIG sound!

"1 x Mix x 8 x Live Stems in 24 bit 44.1 kHz WAV files

Full Mix

Crust Stem

Kick Stem

Linn Drum Kick Stem

Kit Stem

Snare Stem

Linn Drum Snare Stem

Simmons Snare Stem

Room Stem

Beat Tempo Map

Locked Mix & Stem Loops - Loops created from the full length mixes for quick and easy song creating.

Joy Division groove that has plenty of space and quirkiness and very minimal and industrial. A smaller sound to the kit and very simple fills between the snare and the toms maintaining an overall naivety to the whole performance.

"1 x Mix & 10 x Live Stems in 24 bit 44.1 kHz WAV files

Full Mix

Crust Stem

D Drum Clap Stem 1

D Drum Clap Stem 2

Linn Drum Kick Stem

Kick Stem

Kit Stem

Snare Stem

Linn Drum Snare Stem

D Drum Snare Stem

Room Stem

Beat Tempo Map

Locked Mix & Stem Loops - Loops created from the full length mixes for quick and easy song creating.

A very laid back ballad groove reminiscent of" Careless Whisper" and with lots of open space to let the song breathe. Eighth note hi-hat pattern with some subtle snare inflections with the Ludwig Black Beauty in its full glory and some minimal drum fills.

"1 x Mix & 6 x Stems in 24 bit 44.1 kHz WAV files

Full Mix

Kick Stem

Kit Stem

Linn Kick Stem

Linn Snare Stem

Snare Stem

Room Stem

Beat Tempo Map

Locked Mix & Stem Loops - Loops created from the full length mixes for quick and easy song creating.

Meat and Potatoes Pop groove with simple fills and progressing along with the ride cymbal maintaining a good blank canvas to create over. Quarter notes on the hats and some very simple tom and snare fills to add to the progression of the track.

"1 x Mix & 4 x Live Stems in 24 bit 44.1 kHz WAV files

Full Mix

Kick Stem

Kit Stem

Snare Stem

Room Stem

Beat Tempo Map

Locked Mix & Stem Loops - Loops created from the full length mixes for quick and easy song creating.

NYC in the house! and some early hip-hop type groove with a certain Public Enemy in mind. Tambourine included to give it a more "Loop" type of feel and sound and a very careful selection of fills to enhance this particular beat.

"2 x Mixes & 8 x Live Stems in 24 bit 44.1 kHz WAV files

Full Mix & Full Mix No Tambourine

Crust Stem

D Drum Kick Sample Stem

D Drum Snare Sample Stem

Kick Stem

Kit Stem

Snare Stem

Room Stem

Tambourine Stem

Beat Tempo Map

Locked Mix & Stem Loops - Loops created from the full length mixes for quick and easy song creating.

Soul to Soul groove with minimal swing and some signature "Back to Life" fills. Tambourine included and progressing from an eighth note feel to a sixteens pattern on the hi-hat with a dry but rich sound to the whole performance. Ride cymbal added for a section to help spice things up.

"2 x Mixes & 9 x Live Stems in 24 bit 44.1 kHz WAV files

Full Mix

Full Mix No Tambourine

Kick Stem

Kit Stem

Snare Stem

Crust Stem

Linn Kick Sample

Linn Snare Sample

Room Stem

Tambourine Stem

Beat Tempo Map

Locked Mix & Stem Loops - Loops created from the full length mixes for quick and easy song creating.